Further Future: From Woodstock and SXSW to TED, Davos, Burning Man and Beyond

We have seen a blossoming of events in the last decade where like-minded people gather. Whether the burgeoning music festival scene, the explosion of TED and TEDx events or the seemingly endless industry conferences, people have a propensity to assemble. The founders of Woodstock can certainly take credit for the foregoing trend. One of the most unique gatherings is Burning Man, the annual gathering in the desert where a community is created and extinguished over the course of about a week. Further Future is an outgrowth of Burning Man, and will soon have its sophomore event, April 29 to May 1 at the Moapa River Reservation 40 minutes outside Las Vegas.

Further Future is organized by a crew known for their Burning Man soundcamp, Robot Heart. I recently spoke with Rob Scott, one of Further Future founders. One of the founders’ goals is to take the human connection and energies of such gatherings and push it toward a "next step." Scott is an Aussie who has been a lawyer in NYC for 16 years, working in the venture capital sector and with innovators in the media space. Inevitably he “accumulated a handful of interesting people.” Robot Heart was the creative outlet to produce forward thinking performances at Burning Man, which in turn led to producing interesting music experiences. In turn, that became the platform for Further Future.

One of the many intriguing elements at Burning Man is the absence of commerce, which became self-limiting. Scott looks at Further Future as a means by which to pursue many things beyond the scope of either Robot Heart or Burning Man.

Last year Further Future featured CEOs from SoundCloud, Zappos and Evernote. This year’s event includes an impressive list of speakers discussing the future of the web, tech, music, health, media, cannabis, farming, luxury and life. If Further Future was a music festival, the biggest fonts on the poster would be reserved for Eric Schmidt (executive chairman of
Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc) and Bob Pittman (chairman/CEO of
iHeartMedia and
MTV co-founder).

Eric Schmidt (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Bob Pittman (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Scott tells me that Further Future does not seek to assemble a mere fanbase, but rather he wants to gather a group of people who interact and participate. He likens it to the way in which communities exist because of commonalties like geography, language and religion. “Although today’s communities can exist beyond those aspects due to social media, there is still a yearning to gather,” says Scott, citing Davos, SXSW and TED as prime examples and inspirations. “We hope to guide the community in its growth. We aspire to be a lifestyle brand, a way to exist not just via music experiences or speakers.” Toward that end, the founders are developing certain core pillars: music, food, wellness, community, technology and creativity. Each pillar is represented by a thoughtful array of experts.

Scott speaks about using Further Future like a Petri dish, “We are trying to get enough forward thinking people, to put them in an environment to create a stew to see what evolves. We want less of the one way street of TED. We want far more interaction with the crowd, more like a town hall and workshops than speechifying.” Scott promises “a hell of a great time no matter how deep you go.”

Scott talks about getting away from the day to day effort at problem solving, which is why the founders prefer attendees don’t stay in Vegas, although shuttle services make that an option. The on-site options range from pitching a tent, bringing in an RV or additional luxury options. There will be a General Store (just like Woodstock forty seven ago!), but undoubtedly Further Future will run more smoothly. Scott promises a “curated, elegant, seamless experience.” Indeed, no cash will be used on-site, all commerce will be handled with RFID wristbands.

Having attended a fair share of the events cited above, I can attest that the best are like getting a massage for the brain. The founders of Further Future have assembled a broad array of speakers. Their promise to use the speakers as a catalyst for a broader discussion about the challenges in the days and years ahead is ambitious and thrilling.

I have worked at several global companies (HP, Qualcomm, Philips, Disney) in senior business affairs and business development positions. I helped launch many new technologies that depended on traditional media content, requiring me to negotiate deals with Hollywood studios,...